Complaints Procedure

We welcome all comments and feedback about the way we work, whether positive or negative.

Your views help us to make sure that we are giving the best service we can, and are important in letting us know where we need to make changes.

Your feedback may include compliments (e.g. praise of a particular service or staff member), comments about how our services could be developed, or complaints.

Compliments and comments can be shared by talking to the person working with you or a manager. You can share your views by phone, in a letter/email, or by asking to meet with us. Contact details can be found at the end of this leaflet.

Family Care is committed to providing positive experiences for people who access our services. We regard complaints as an opportunity to turn a negative experience for a customer or service user into a positive one, as well as an opportunity to learn and to improve.

The purpose of our procedure is to ensure that:

there is open access to the procedure

we listen and are responsive to people who raise an issue with us

we respond swiftly and at a level close to the point of service delivery

we are fair and consistent

we offer solutions and/or explanations

we resolve complaints informally where possible

we offer complainants recourse to someone more senior/more independent if complainants wish

staff who are mentioned in complaints receive support

we respect confidentiality

we record complaints consistently and monitor what we record

we use complaints positively as an opportunity for learning and improvement.

In making a complaint we believe most people want:

to be listened to

to have the problem accepted as important

to be offered a solution or explanation

to have their distress acknowledged

to be assured that where our service has not been of a high standard or mistakes have been made, the same thing will not happen again.

It is therefore essential that people raising a complaint are involved in discussing their concerns and in finding solutions.

How to Complain

Stage One – The Informal Stage

Tell the people who run the service

If you are unhappy about any of our services we want to hear from you. You should communicate your dissatisfaction to the member of staff who is working with you. This staff member should discuss your concerns with their Manager and explain how they have dealt with them. This helps us to make sure that the matter has been handled properly.

If you are unhappy with the response you receive from the person you are working with or if you feel they cannot help you, you should contact their manager and explain your concerns. You can contact them by phone, by email and / or in writing. You can also ask to meet with them to discuss further your dissatisfaction with services provided. The Manager will look into all matters raised, and you will received a response within 10 working days.

Stage One – The Formal Stage

If you feel that your dissatisfaction has not been resolved satisfactorily, you can escalate your concerns into a formal complaint by writing to the Business Services Manager at Family Care with full details. Your complaint will be acknowledged within 5 working days and an Independent Person with appropriate authority will be appointed to investigate your complaint. He or she will wish to discuss your complaint with you in order to ensure we are clear about the issues and the outcome you would like. You can have a friend or supporter attend any meeting with you. At the end of the Independent Person’s investigation s/he will produce a written report, which will include their conclusion and a proposed course of action.

We aim to complete all Stage 1 investigations within 28 days of receiving your complaint, occasionally investigations take longer than 28 days. If this happens, we will tell you and let you know the outcome as soon as we can.

Stage two

If you remain unhappy with the outcome of the investigation, you can contact the Business Services Manager at Family Care, to request that your complaint move to Stage 2 of the Complaints Process. You will have to contact them within 28 days of receiving your written response to your Stage 1 complaint, and you will be required to provide reason for your continuing dissatisfaction.

This information will be passed to the Chair of the Trustees, who will either review the complaint him / herself, or arrange for another Trustee to undertake this task. A final decision on the complaint will be sent to you within 28 days.

Complaints relating to our Adoption Service

We understand that sometimes it is not easy to say what you feel to the people who provide your service. If you need help, advice or someone to make your views known, or if you are not satisfied after a final decision is made, you can also contact:OFSTED
Picadilly Gate
Store Street
Manchester M1 2WD
Tel: 0300 123 1231
Email: enquiries@ofsted.gov.org
Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

Confidentiality

We will only tell people about your complaint when there is a justifiable reason for doing this. After it is resolved, we will keep a summary on record, using guidance from the Data Protection Act. If you use our services and have a file, the record will be placed on your file. We use anonymised information from complaints to make sure we learn from them and improve our services.

Latest News

Family Care is proud to announce that the Reverend Kate Bottley is our new patron, joining our already established patrons John Holmes and Lady Peace.

Kate is known for her various television, radio and writing roles including Gogglebox, CelebrityMasterchef and Songs of Praise.

On joining Family Care, Kate said, “Family Care provide an invaluable service across Nottinghamshire and beyond. I am proud and honoured to be their new patron and to do whatever I am able to support them in their transformative work.“

Please be aware that Family Care has a new facebook page which can be found by clicking here. The previous page will shortly no longer be available so please start following and liking us on the new page.

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